The Magnificent Iguazú Falls

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Truly a natural wonder of the world, I know of no falls more beautiful or impressive than those at Iguazú - read on and take a look at the pictures.

aaaaah...paradise

We flew from Cordoba to Iguazu and really struck gold from the moment we stepped off the plane. Iguazu has turned out to be pretty much our idea of paradise, great location, great hostel (with an amazing pool) and gorgeous weather. We set off to the park the morning after we arrived bright and early, we were able to catch a bus right outside the hostel. The entrance to the park has something of a theme park feel to it but in the least tacky way possible. They make walking through jungle easy and provide walkways right out to the falls but none of it interferes with the natural beauty of the surroundings. After walking down the green trail which gives you the feel of walking through the jungle (apart from the noisy groups ahead and behind!) we decided to do the lower trail first (bright yellow trail on map with this article) rather than the upper trail (blue trail on map). The upper trail is easier (it didn't have steps) and we reckoned would be busier (with all the lazy people).

Lower trail

A lighthouse on the lower trail afforded us our first glimpse of the falls, even from a distance they were truly amazing and like nothing that we had ever seen before. As we made our way down the trail the roar of the water got louder and the walkways began to pass over fast-flowing streams. The walkways had lots of viewing points, each drawing us closer. The largest of them provided a panoramic view of Saltos San Martin, Mbigua and Bernabe Mendez. At the bottom of the lower trail we could see boats going over and back to the San Martin Island and also motor boats going right in under the falls at full speed. We decided to come back and do that the next day so more about that later. The boat over to the island was included in the entrance fee so we hopped on one. As we walked through the island we saw the most curious little birds (the blue, yellow and black ones in the photo below). They had no fear and cast a curious eye over their group of spectators while skillfully inspecting a plastic bag for any tasty titbits. The trail on the island brought us to a viewing point in front of the Salto San Martin, the largest of the falls in that part of the park. The water thundered down from this fall and huge amounts of water were immediately vapourised as the water crashed down. We could see motor boats roaring in to the falls before disappearing under the clouds of mist. The water for this immense natural wonder comes from a catchment area of over 90,000 square kilometres. We could also get a better look at Salto Bernabé Mendez which was actually broken into two separate falls with a series of steps which the water passed over before becomming the lower waterfall. This slowed down the flow of water but meant the waterfall itself was more beautiful and easier to see. Back on the lower trail we walked back up past the Salto Las Dos Hermanas (the two sisters), these were tucked away inconspicuously as many of the waterfalls were but each spectacular in it's own right and would have certainly been a natural wonder if it was in Ireland or England. After lunch at the Dos Hermanas cafeteria we headed up to the Upper trail.

Upper trail

The upper trail led right over the top of the falls. From where the walkway passed over the falls we could see the water falling away, literally beneath our feet. It looked like the edge of the world. The point where the falls begin is actually the point where the hard basalt rock ends and the softer rock (which has been eroded) begins. The effect was made even more photo-worthy due to all the rainbows that were formed in the water vapour. After the upper trail we hopped on the "green train" to the Garganta del Diablo (The Devil's Throat).

Garganta del Diablo

On our way up the trail to see the Devil's Throat, we were constantly distracted by all the butterflies that we saw. Typical girl, I wanted to take pictures of all of them. One landed on Pete's arm and stayed there for ages, it was pretty big and when it opened it's wings (thought never when I was ready to take a picture!), they were a beautiful bright blue. When we got to the Devil's Throat in between being drenched by all the spray that it threw up, we tried to see the bottom of this immense pit of water (unsuccessfully). A very nice photographer (with a step-ladder) took a picture of Pete and I for free. We were glad we left the Garganta until last, it was the most amazing sight among amazing sights of the day.

After this, we headed back to the hostel and jumped straight in to the pool. It was so refreshing though the water in the pool is like bath water (heated entirely by the heat of the sun). That night we met up with a few English people staying at the hostel and headed in to Puerto Iguazu with them for a meal. Puerto Iguazu is really a small village that has grown to accomodate the tourists in the area. There are lots of restaurants, internet cafes and photo shops but little else.

Motorboat ride

Next day we headed back to the park (the second day is half price). We walked down the lower trail again and it was really nice seeing it all for a second time as we saw things that we had missed the first day. We came across a really pretty waterfall that we had missed the first day - Salto Chica (Little Waterfall). The boat ride was great, we got drenched and could hardly see when we got close to the falls but we loved it. The motorboat went pretty close to Salto Dos Mosqueteros first and then went around to the biggy, San Martin. It was an exhilerating ride but not scary, we did have the obligatory few screaming girls though! We walked around the park for a while to dry off (we were soaked through) and then went back to the hostel.

We spent the next few days indulging ourselves (i.e. lazing by the pool, sunning ourselves and occasionally going for a swim to cool down. Bliss!). We also met up with the Israali guys from BA and Cordoba again at the hostel and shared a few "caipiriñas" by the pool.

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